Trying to Find Myself
by Goldenblue
Summary: [COMPLETED!] It is the week before winter break. Everyone is anticipating Christmas but evil doesn't wait! CONTAINS boy on boy slashes such as RD. Please R&R, Prologue has more information for summary.
1. Prologue

This Story contains BOY ON BOY slashes, notice the "es" on slashes. It is a twist on Harry Potter and you might want 2 read this to know what you are in for! It contains the pairings Ron/Draco, Harry/Hermione, and maybe even a bit of Draco/Harry near the end of the story! It even talks about a past Ron/Harry slash (no prequel except 5th book which relates very little to this story)! Also, Ron acts a bit girly and Hermione is a bit crazy and obsessed. THIS FIC IS RATED R FOR A REASON! Not only that is has b/b slashes but also because of Romance, Sexual Humor, Drama, and tidbit of bad attempts at horror (still freaky, just not steven king material) It comes from a scene between her and Ron in the third movie that is found almost everywhere in Harry Potter Fandom. Everything in here is based on characters and settings from J. K. Rolling's Harry Potter books, so I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING!  
  
Please do not give me a bad review because I have boy-on-boy slashes and you don't like them! I have warned you! But hearing about how I have portrayed a character (with the exception of Ron and Hermione as the way they are serves a purpose in my story) I do not mind tips on improvement. OVERALL, please R&R.  
  
POEM  
  
Passion and Despair  
  
You are my passion, my despair,  
  
Hands on my hips,  
  
You swing me through the air.  
  
Silver light, Gray shadows,  
  
You hold me close,  
  
Through our highs and lows.  
  
The moon shines, darkness fades,  
  
I love how you look,  
  
Looking at me through those shades.  
  
The holding of hands, the drifting apart,  
  
Dearest of all,  
  
You'll always stay close to my heart.  
  
The triumph of Red, the stealth of Green,  
  
I watch you come through the open door,  
  
I see you completely if you know what I mean. 


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One  
  
It was the beginning of a new year for Ron. It was his sixth year. He was Harry potter's best friend. The guy happened to be the all-time good guy hero. Ron sometimes got upset that there was never any credit his way when he helped, but he liked to think he was used to it.  
  
Ron had discovered a part about himself and Harry that he never knew existed. Hermione and Harry were meant to be together but that was only obvious to him about the day before, as a matter of fact. Harry and He were gay. That had scared Ron at first. Ron wasn't an intimate guy and, well, being with a guy was worse in Ron's mind. Harry was actually a bit more than that. Harry was bisexual. Fun!  
  
Well, Harry and Ron tried it out together. It didn't work too well. Something about that summer had changed all of them. The trio was affected. Hermione scared him. She had somehow lost her mind. It might have been the fact that Harry liked guys, although that didn't stop her from some things. Harry, ever since Sirus had died, well, figured this out about himself. It might have been that he simply became that way, but then again, Ron didn't understand who someone became or simply was gay.  
  
Some people were excepting and some weren't. His parents freaked out. Arthur, his father, was wired and muttering "bloody Hell" for a couple of days, but his mother, Molly, was somewhat okay with it. They had thought Percy was gay. Turned out, one of their kids was, just not Percy. Fred and George went on prank-fests around him but eventually backed off. Ginny, well, he couldn't be sure about her. She kind of didn't really let anyone know.  
  
One person was so supportive that it scared him. That person understood too. As a matter of fact, that person was willing to be with him, gave him a try. Ron wondered if it was even possible that he was falling in love with that person. Then again, it kind of made him laugh to think that, if it was known, that person and Ron would go down in the Hogwarts: A History for being the first gay prefects ever and to be on "opposing forces." Ron looked up. He looked in the direction of that person. It was December at Hogwarts; snow was falling and people were merry including Ron.  
  
Ron looked across the Great Hall. The boy ate his food and joked with his friends. Ron looked down at his hand and rubbed it. Sexy Arm... Hermione had said that but the boy he looked at made him feel enchanted, made him laugh. "Weasley, you may have a sexy arm, but I had a sexy bod!" Draco had said. "Yes. Yes you do," Ron had replied. The Astronomy tower had been full last night so they took the broom closet. Draco had even killed a spider for him. Ron smiled and rubbed his arm yet again.  
  
He sighed and Ginny pinched him.  
  
"Ron, stop dreaming!" she exclaimed.  
  
"No," he said absently. "I am not!"  
  
She laughed and Draco looked over. He smiled at Ron. He folded a sheet of paper after he scribbled something on it. It was in the shape of a crane. Draco placed it in his palms and blew it towards Ron. Ron subconsciously reached out for it before it came. His eyes half-fluttered shut. Ginny caught it. She giggled and flashed a smile at Draco. Ron fumed. He reached out to grab it. She laughed and moved away.  
  
"Give it!" he cried like a little girl. She giggled.  
  
"No!" she laughed.  
  
He slapped her and crossed his arms while Fred and George were trying to decide whether to laugh or yell at him.  
  
"You're mean!" he cried.  
  
While she felt her face, he snatched it from her. Draco watched all of this and was extremely amused by the display. I AM the prettiest person in this school!  
  
Ron opened it slowly, standing up and walking out the door.  
  
_Dear Ron,  
  
Meet me in the dungeons after Potions. I think the wall is looking like the excellent place for... well... you know. You know you wanna come! Plus, if it makes you feel better, you are my first...  
  
-Passionately yours, Draco_  
  
Ron blushed and it was his turn to giggle fiercely. I am LOVED! Yes, way-to- go, Ron. Ron was so busy looking up rather than down that he almost fell. Draco laughed from behind him as he walked by with Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle and pretended that he hated Ron.  
  
Snape bickered during Potions but Ron seemed totally unaffected. He did not even get upset when he got detention for dissolving his cauldron. Ron walked across the hall and waited for Draco...

* * *

Draco walked into the dungeon room after he ditched his "buds." Ron waited for him like a student sitting in one of the desks. He got up and Draco couldn't help but stare. If it had been a cartoon, his mouth would have dropped down to the floor.  
  
"Are you wearing a nightgown, Weasley?" Draco asked astonished. Ron slipped off the sleeves and the gown fell.  
  
Not anymore," Ron exclaimed.  
  
Draco half-grinned.  
  
"That's the way I like them," Draco said. ...I think...  
  
Ron sat down on the desk and Draco walked forward. His hand slid onto Ron's neck. Ron's head tilted back. Draco laughed to himself because of how easily he could make someone stir. He kissed Ron. Ron wrapped his arms around Draco.  
  
"You have too many clothes on," Ron complained, trying to undo Draco's belt. Draco stopped him.  
  
"I like it that way," Draco said.  
  
"Aw!" Ron complained and Draco gave in...

* * *

Draoc's eyes fluttered open. He was still in Ron's arms. He had missed Herbology and Ron, Divinations, but oh well. There was someone else in the room. Sitting up in the "bed" that was made of their clothes, he saw someone watching him.  
  
"What are you doing here, Potter?" He asked.  
  
The boy flinched.  
  
"What are you doing with Ron?" Harry demanded.  
  
"Making out with him. What does it look like?' He asked.  
  
"Sleeping with him..." Harry mumbled.  
  
"Ok," Draco said. "Maybe a little bit of both but why can't a guy like me have fun especially when he is so bloody hot!"  
  
Harry said nothing. His green-eyed stare scared Draco.  
  
"Go be with Hermione!" Draco exclaimed, thinking of nothing quite witty to say.  
  
"I was with Ron first!" Harry cried.  
  
"Go be Bi somewhere else, then!" Draco exclaimed.  
  
Ron woke up and placed his "sexy" arm on Draco's shoulder. He tried to pull Draco back down. Draco resisted, still staring evilly at Harry.  
  
"GO away!" Ron cried like a little girl, trying but not managing to pull up some of the clothes to hide his chest although he had nothing but a lousy four-pack that was barely there. "I don't wanna be with you any more!"  
  
Harsh, Ron, harsh... Harry's expression became one that was depressed and gloomy. "I'll just go kill myself then!" he exclaimed.  
  
"Good job, Potter!" Draco proclaimed.  
  
Ron looked after Harry with concern. Some of it rubbed off on Draco as he looked into his lover's eyes. He caressed Ron's shoulder.  
  
"It will be okay!" Draco said reassuringly. "He just wants you to follow him! I can make you feel better."  
  
Ron managed a smile. His eyes fluttered shut and rested his head on Draco's shoulder.

* * *

Ron looked at his homework. It said: _Use the following ingredients to make a mesmerizing potion: Dungus Root, Arrow Stalks, Cabbage leaves, an Osprey feather, Lizard eyes, Hair of banshee, and Newt Tongue. _All Ron saw was: **D**_ungus **R**oot, **A**rrow Stalks, **C**abbage leaves, an **O**sprey feather, L**i**zard eye**s**, **H**air **o**f banshee, and New**t** **T**ongue_. which was DRACO is HotT.  
  
He couldn't concentrate at all. The portrait swung open.  
  
"That password is too old!" Not original at all!" A familiar voice smirked.  
  
Ron turned to see Draco. Luckily, Hermione was in the Library with Harry. Everyone else was asleep so they didn't know.  
  
"Draco, Hermione and Harry will be back any minute!" Ron whined.  
  
"Please, Malfoy sounds so much more sexier when you say it in that voice!" Draco remarked.  
  
"Bloody Hell!" they heard.  
  
Ron and Draco turned towards the stairs to the boys' dormitory. Seamus Finnigan stood at the bottom.  
  
"Oh yes, Finnigan!" Draco exclaimed. "I do believe he wanted some action about ten years ago! With a face like that, I CAN!" Draco exclaimed.  
  
Ron giggled and "fell" onto Draco's shoulder, giggling helplessly.

* * *

"Hermione!" the boy whined. "He was... with someone else!"  
  
Hermione ran her fingers down his chest in a walking motion.  
  
"It's okay," she said, trying to let him realize he was with her.  
  
"I want to kill him!" Harry exclaimed, staring at the ceiling.  
  
"Yes, let us kick his arse," Hermione relied. "As long as I get to keep his sexah arm!" Harry looked at her blankly.

* * *

He felt the heat in the closed-in space. Almost every embrace made a moan escape from Ron's mouth.  
  
"Turn over," Draco whispered in his ear. "I want to experiment!"  
  
The new experience was seared into Ron's brain although he didn't actually see it happen...

* * *

Harry ogled himself in the mirror. He thought himself rather dashing in black. Harry glances at Ron's empty bed. He frowned as he thought of what he was going to do. Harry met Hermione in the common room.  
  
"Where should we start?" Harry asked.  
  
Hermione shrugged.  
  
"I guess we follow the aura of the sexah arm!" she said.  
  
He felt a pang of jealousy. He was tired of "the arm."  
  
They picked their way towards the library where, as they peaked around the corner, they saw Ron and Draco talking to each other. Harry tried to walk forward but Hermione didn't go so he stopped.  
  
"I want to go out with you, sexah arm!" Hermione exclaimed subconsciously. "You can't go out with something that can't do what I can do to you," he said. She shook her head.  
  
"The sexy arm is all you could ever hope to be!" She exclaimed. Harry shook his head.  
  
"Maybe we shouldn't have done this!" he exclaimed, shaking his head again. Hermione grabbed his arm with a steel-like grip.  
  
"The arm is mine!" She hissed.  
  
"Okay!" he cried. "It's yours!"  
  
They approached Ron and Draco. Ron hung on Draco's arm as he laughed at some joke Draco must have told him. Harry's stomach twisted in pain.  
  
"What are you doing here, Potter?" Draco asked.  
  
Hermione ran past Harry like an insane banshee.  
  
"MY ARM!" she exclaimed.  
  
She pulled at Ron's arm. She fought for what was attached to him. He cried out to Draco. Draco turned on Hermione and punched her in the face.  
  
She began to cry.  
  
"Why?" Harry gasped.  
  
Draco looked at him, wrapping his arms around Ron and rocking him side-to- side. "Chivalry is dead," Draco said. "I am the proof!"  
  
Harry glared at Draco. He took Hermione by the arm and tried to drag her away from Draco and Ron. He might as well of carried his cousin Dudley because of the ridiculous struggle she made. Her arms flailed in front of her, which was the opposite direction, towards Ron. She whined and wailed.  
  
He wished to cover his ears but squinted his eyes shut instead. In doing so, he tripped over Mrs. Norris, pulling down Hermione with him. She landed with an "oof!" He heard muffled laughing from behind him and a loud, incessant yowling from beneath him. Harry rolled over, releasing himself from Hermione. The red-eyed cat glared and scampered off, most likely to Filtch.  
  
Hermione seemed to have finally gotten the point. She slumped her shoulders, her mousy hair drooping and trailing behind her with her cloak. She slowly walked back to the Gryffindor tower.  
  
Harry looked back as Ron and Draco said good-bye to each other. He grimaced.  
  
"Yuck!" he said aloud.  
  
He rubbed his arms as he returned to Gryffindor tower. I miss you...he thought.

* * *

Ron proceeded to the Great Hall. It was breakfast already. His wonderful time had kept him up all night. Harry refused to talk to him. Ever since yesterday, Harry had been like that. Hopefully, Harry will get over it! Ron thought.  
  
Hermione still sat next to him. She didn't look at him or speak but occasionally rubbed her arm against his on "accident." Naïve Ron believed her. Seamus sat across and stared at him intensely. He watched silently with widened eyes. Ron didn't know how the kid could keep it up the whole time! Eventually Seamus did say something.  
  
"How..." he said.  
  
Ron wondered if it was a question or not. He chose not to say anything.  
  
"Oh, poor Ron!" Fred chimed.  
  
"Yes," George agreed. "Boy trouble."  
  
Ron turned to his two older brothers who sat on the other side of Ginny who was sitting next to him.  
  
"I am not! It is all just fine! Look who's talking anyway!" Ron retorted.  
  
The twins looked at each other.  
  
"I think you are talking about Fred," George said, "as he has no love life! Then again, at least mine is of the opposite sex!"  
  
Fred turned to him.  
  
"Key word, George, sex!" Fred exclaimed. "And you ain't sodding gettin' any!"  
  
"Well, I haven't seen you shagging anyone!" George replied, after bitch- slapping him.  
  
"So you bloody watch me to get your kicks?" Fred cried, sliding a Wizard Weezer into George's food.  
  
"Yes and you look like an extremely fat cow trying to stand up!" George laughed. Ron shook his head.  
  
"You know, when I had a fight with Tom-" Ginny began before Ron cut her off.  
  
"Tom? You and Tom were never anything!" He cried. "Plus, he nearly destroyed you!"  
  
Ginny rolled her eyes.  
  
"Isn't that what Draco has tried to do to you?" Ginny asked slyly. He looked offended.  
  
"Are you trying to tell me you have got together with that rotting corpse called You-Know-Who?" Ron exclaimed.  
  
Everyone looked over.  
  
"I... was... ah... talking about Seamus," he said lamely to get a quick cover. "I... ah... just didn't want to say his... ah... name! Ah yeah! That's right! His name!" Seamus blushed as all the stares turned to him. The Slytherins turned away almost instantly as it was of no interest to them. Then, slowly, the Hugglepuffs and the Ravenclaws turned back to what they were doing leaving the Gryffindors to be the only ones staring. Every Gryffindor knew that he had been going out with a fifth year, Elizabeth, Ginny's best friend.  
  
Elizabeth turned from Seamus to Ginny, not sure who to hate more. She "gr- ed" and left the room. Ginny glared at Ron and he winced.  
  
He picked up his stuff and walked alone to DaDA. Hermione walked with Harry and Seamus' crowd was mad at him. He tried to walk with Neville but he was pissed at Ron too, as he had broken up with Ginny about two days ago. Neville was mad at him because Ron made him think that Ginny had gotten over him that fast even though she had. Ron heard people jeering behind him. Soon they were all around him and a bunch of boys pushed him into a corner. They shoved him around. Tears stung in his eyes.  
  
"You're hurting me!" he whined.  
  
One of them laughed, the ringleader, Seamus with his hands on his hips. Ron aimed his wand at him and shouted, "Tarantallegra!" Instead of making Seamus' legs jerk, an explosion went off in front of his face. It was minor but it left a "sooted" face choking on a laugh standing in front of Ron. Seamus didn't fester with anger. He just stared. Seamus took a dazed step forward. His eyes focused, he kicked Ron, and they walked off. Ron bit his bottom lip and sagged down the wall to the floor. His head slumped onto his shoulder and he stared into his lap.  
  
"I see your memory isn't as bad as I would think for a Weasley!" A voice said.  
  
Ron looked up. Draco stood over him, holding out a hand.  
  
"Hurry!" he exclaimed. "I haven't got all sodding day!"  
  
Ron took it and stood up.  
  
"I remember when I used that on Potter in second year!" Draco said more to himself. He looked at Ron.  
  
"My father," he said slowly, "knows about us somehow."  
  
He took something out of his pocket.  
  
"Somehow," he continued, "they let him send this."  
  
It was a folded half-sheet of paper. Ron opened it gingerly, more afraid of what it might contain than the person who wrote it.  
  
_Son of Muggle Trash Collector, Weasley,  
  
I do not know how you did this to my son but leave him alone! If you don't, I will hit you with my pimp stick!  
_  
It wasn't signed and it confused Ron. It looked like a stupid letter to him.  
  
"Your father has a pimp stick?" Ron exclaimed.  
  
Draco laughed and shook his head.  
  
"It's a long story!" Draco exclaimed. "I just wanted you to read it but don't worry!"  
  
He rushed off and Ron realized he was going to be late to class. Don't worry? How could Ron not worry?  
  
Ron took a seat next to Harry, the only seat left. Like a selfish brat, Harry drew his stuff closer to himself.  
  
The new DaDA Professor Tonks, who made quite an odd teacher walked in.  
  
"Okay class," she said. "Turn open your books to 'Coma Injuries.' We are going to learn how to knock out a Hellhound."

* * *

Divinations. It was one of the classes where Draco was the favorite. The professor always told him nice things, although they were always 'in July, you shall vanquish Harry' or 'in August, you will vanquish Harry.' It was getting quite annoying. Whenever she got on his nerves and he announced it, allowing her to over hear, she usually ignored it but sometimes she didn't. She never really did tell him bad about his future.  
  
The worst thing she had told him when she was mad at him was that he was going to start losing his hair at an early age. It didn't really matter because Draco was rich enough to buy all of the wizarding hair products in the world if he needed to to keep his hair from falling out.  
  
He already started with the skin creams. They were many for moisturized soft skin but also to prevent wrinkles. His goal ever since he saw his grandfather had been to keep up a young face no matter how old he got.  
  
Speaking of money, Draco realized that he needed to buy Ron a better sweater than the ones his mom makes him. Draco shivered. Maroon was the color that looked ravishing only on girls with blond to strawberry blond hair.  
  
He acknowledged that he needed to owl his neighbor, Patricia. She always had Teen Witch Weekly where as Draco's subscription had run out. Not only was it a way to keep up with fashion but also to keep up with how many times he showed up in the magazine. Draco remembered how the last issue had Oliver Wood in second place where as he was first. He was only ahead of Oliver by three votes. The rising quidditch player upset him. He had to have no competition. His father had to bring Draco out to more public places that literally were "the places to be."  
  
Lunch was coming soon as was his next "visit" with Ron. He smiled to himself and began to listen as Pansy and Tessa Hamilton gossiped about peopled.

* * *

Hermione looked in front of her. It was there again, eager to be touched, held. She reached forward, tempted.  
  
"Miss Granger, what are you intending to do?" Professor Tonks asked.  
  
Hermione blushed. Ron turned around.  
  
"What were you trying to do?" he asked in an astonished whisper.  
  
She shyly turned to her work and said nothing. Meekly, she began to reread the chapter they were on, one of the many chapters she had read before school began for this year.

* * *

_Lunch,_ Ron thought, _where we eat and turn into pigs._ He played with his food. This time, he sat on the far end of the table, away from everyone else. He was saddened by how his life had turned.  
  
Draco caught his eye as Draco walked out of the rook. Ron got up and followed.  
  
Draco was standing just outside the exit to the school. Snow was falling slowly, disappearing as they touched Draco's pale blond hair. He stood out in black robes with a green and black striped tie. He ran his fingers through his hair, turned around, and smiled at Ron, gray eyes twinkling.  
  
"Hey," he said softly.  
  
Ron smiled softly, almost with a lovingly look.  
  
"Hey," he responded with a slight nod of his head.  
  
Draco reached out his hand to Ron.  
  
"Come for a walk with me," Draco said.  
  
Ron took his hand and they headed for the frozen lake. Although they did not hold hands, they walked pretty close together. As the cold got to him, Ron suddenly wished he had a sweater with him. He rubbed his arms.  
  
Draco turned to look at him. He took in every inch of Ron and laughed.  
  
"You look like you have lice!" he exclaimed.  
  
"Yes, and you look like a snow queen!" Ron cried, laughing along with him. A spark passed through Draco's eyes. They stopped and faced each other.  
  
"Well, actually, Ron, a keeper is more like a homemaker and a seeker is more like a business man. Apparently, dear, you are a keeper so you would be the snow queen. Sad thing is you don't have the good looks to go with a queen!" Draco remarked.  
  
Ron shot him a look.  
  
Trying not to argue about that, he said, "Why Malfoy, I do believe you just called by my first name and dear!"  
  
Draco looked a bit to the left. He played with one of his rather short hairs.  
  
"I do believe I just did!" Draco exclaimed, raising both of his eyebrows.  
  
He leaned in and kissed Ron. Ron pulled him closer and wrapped his arms around Draco's waist. Draco pulled away, his eyes half-shut.  
  
"Almost there," he said and began to walk again.  
  
He led Ron to a pine tree that was rather large. Underneath it, there was grass untouched by snow, as the branches were so thick. Draco tried not to bump up against a branch to prevent snow from crashing down on them. Both tried to lean on the other's shoulder after they had sat down and ended up simply cocking their heads together. Draco's hand found Ron's.  
  
"Hey," Draco said, "Do you want to come over to my house for Christmas break? You could tell your parents you are going over to a friend's house. You don't have to tell them it is me!"  
  
Ron didn't move. He took a breath that Draco noticed was slightly strained.  
  
"The only reason I would have for going would be you! What if your father escaped from Azkaban? He would kill me and punish you!" Ron cried.  
  
Draco released his grip from Ron's hand and put that arm around Ron's shoulder. He pulled Ron closer.  
  
"My father can't escape with all of those dementors around! Plus, my mother, well, she is kind of..." Draco began.  
  
"Kind of what?" Ron asked.  
  
"She's kind of like your mother's brother's sister-in-law," Draco said.  
  
Ron edged away swiftly. His eyes went wide and his breathing ragged.  
  
"Ew!" He cried.  
  
Draco went all tense and closed his eyes for a second.  
  
"Ron!" He cried. "Come back over here!"  
  
He patted where Ron had previously been.  
  
"We are not sodding blood related!" Draco continued. "Plus, your mother's sister-in-law was disowned by my mother's family. So there is another reason it is not 'ew!'"  
  
Ron gave Draco one last frightened/disturbed look and edged back over slowly. "So will you?" Draco asked.  
  
"We'll see," Ron replied. "So, what do we do now?"  
  
Draco returned his arm to its place across Ron's shoulders, behind his neck.  
  
"Just sit with me," he said.

* * *

Harry watched Ron go.  
  
"Hermione!" he whined.  
  
She looked up.  
  
"What?" she asked.  
  
Harry's bottom lip quivered in fake somber.  
  
"He's leaving!" He said.  
  
Hermione shrugged her shoulders.  
  
"So?" she said.  
  
Harry got frustrated.  
  
"Well, what about his arm?" He asked.  
  
She blinked, took a bite of her food, and read another sentence from her book, Exotic Skirts: the "mini" version. It was one of the many romance books that were not located in the Library. It was one of Ginny's.  
  
"Oh, that!" she exclaimed.  
  
"Yes, that!" he cried.  
  
"I'm boycotting it," she said calmly taking a bite of her banana and peanut butter sandwich.  
  
This time his bottom lip quivered for real and his eyes watered.  
  
"Hermione!" he cried.  
  
She looked up at him, annoyed. Hermione searched his eyes.  
  
"Do you have allergies?" she asked.  
  
He shook his head.  
  
"It is bloody winter!" he exclaimed.  
  
"Oh, right, right," she said, waving her hand, and continued reading her book. Harry snatched the book away from her.  
  
"What is so bloody interesting about this book?" he demanded.  
  
Hermione mumbled something through her chewing and pointed to the middle of the page she was reading.  
  
_Gwendolyn shivered as her savior walked towards her. She could feel his breath on her neck as he stood in front of her. He had run out on her before with the witch Felicity and let the evil Wizard Jared capture her. She didn't know why he wouldn't leave her again. He hiked up her skirts._  
  
"Do you remember me?" Ferdinand asked.  
  
Oh, she remembered all too well.  
  
The book intoxicated him. He found himself engrossed in it. Hermione frowned and looked towards the door.  
  
"Now I want to go after him!" she moaned. 


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter Two  
  
"You know," Draco Malfoy began, "whenever I dreamed of being with a guy, I always thought it would be Harry. I never guessed that I wouldn't have to bend down to kiss my lover!"  
  
Ron looked at him.  
  
"How did I become your lover?" Ron asked.  
  
Draco shook his head.  
  
"Sometimes, you can be so daft, Ron! First of all, we sleep together and if that isn't good enough, lover basically means 'I love you!'" he said.  
  
"You love me?" Ron asked.  
  
Draco shook his head, holding back the laughter.  
  
"Yes," he said.  
  
Ron smiled. He looked away as he blushed. He saw Hermione at the entrance to the school and he jumped.  
  
"Draco! Don't we have a quidditch game today?" Ron asked.  
  
They exchanged glance.  
  
"Fuck!" Draco exclaimed.  
  
He crawled out from beneath the tree.  
  
"Come on, Weasley!" He called.  
  
Ron came out slowly but impatient Draco rushed off to get his quidditch robes on. He was captain now and was supposed to be at the pitch before or with the rest of his team. "Mudblood Massacre!" Draco exclaimed and rushed into the Slytherin tower. He rushed down the stair to his room. The boys' rooms were in the dungeons and the head boy's was the farthest down, which was his destination. He quickly changed and grabbed his Cloudcleaver, the newest broom model, fresh off the market.  
  
By the time he got to the quidditch pitch, Blaise Zabini, a beater from his team, and Ron were the only two missing. A few seconds later, Blaise showed up and laughed at Draco.  
  
"Whatcha been doing, Malfoy?" he asked. "Did you go off fuckin' someone and forget to fix your hair?"  
  
"Oh sod off!" Draco exclaimed.  
  
Blaise liked to pretend he was better than Draco was. He was a great gooney only when he wasn't pretending that he was better (meaning he wasn't). Ron came onto the field slowly. His hair was not windblown or anything. Draco guessed the boy didn't rush.  
  
Harry didn't look at Ron. He simply began to give his team a pep talk. Draco didn't really do anything. His team didn't believe in pep talks.  
  
As Madam Hooch blew her whistle, he exclaimed, "Lets bruise some bodies!" His teamed raised their broom with a mighty "yeah" and hopped astride their brooms. Draco blocked out every sound. He simply searched for the snitch. It was almost as if he was blind to everything else, but that was how he played the game. He had tried following Harry but he learned that was how you didn't see the snitch the hard way. He saw a twinkle up above him but a body stopped him.  
  
Harry hovered before him.  
  
"I am going to hurt you!" he exclaimed.  
  
"Merlin, Potter!" Draco exclaimed. "What happened to keeping your head in the game? You wanna lose?"  
  
Harry laughed.  
  
"No, that's your job!" He exclaimed.  
  
Draco was amused.  
  
"So, been studying up on your comebacks, have you!" Draco said.  
  
He looked up to find the snitch was gone. Draco started to sail to the other side of the field. Harry followed him. Draco looked back and grinned. He sped towards a bludger. He would think that Harry would know better, but Draco wasn't too disappointed in the lack of competition. Draco swerved around the bludger as it was right in front of him. Blaise took a swing at Harry right after. Harry just barely avoided it.  
  
Draco spotted the snitch again. He dived. Harry saw it too and went after it. Harry managed a swifter, steeper dive. Draco leaned lower on his broom, speeding up. It was his chance to win. He couldn't bear to lose.  
  
Harry was inches from it but his broom swerved and flipped him. He held onto his broom with one hand, hanging from it. Draco closed his hand around the snitch. No one seemed to see. Feeling sorry, Draco placed the snitch in the hand of Harry that wasn't holding onto the broom. The whole Gyffindor team and a few of the Slytherins saw it but by the time Professor McGonagall and Jordan Lee did, it looked like Draco was trying to take it from Harry.  
  
"Oh what is the Slytherin Captain, Malfoy doing now? Why Harry Potter has the snitch and it looks like Malfoy is trying to take it from him!" Jordan Lee exclaimed into the microphone.  
  
Madam Hooch blew her whistle and Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape walked onto the pitch. Harry managed to swing himself astride his broom and descended to the ground with the snitch in hand. Draco landed too after looking at his team. They were glaring. The ones who were dumbfounded had talked with the team and now they all knew.  
  
"Young Potter, are you all right?" Professor McGonagall asked.  
  
He nodded.  
  
"Can you tell us what happened up there?" she asked.  
  
"My broom bucked and Malfoy caught the snitch!" Harry said.  
  
"We don't approve of liars, Mr. Potter!" Professor Snape said and turned to Professor McGonagall. "He should receive detention!"  
  
Professor McGonagall turned to him.  
  
"He is my student, Severus. I will deal with him as I see fit!" She said.  
  
He rolled his eyes.  
  
Draco watched with interest. Honest Harry, he thought, too honest for your own good. "Hello, Minerva," a voice said. "What is the problem?"  
  
Draco turned around. Professor Dumbledore walked towards them. Most of the people had left but some people lingered including the team players.  
  
Professor McGonagall replayed what she saw and what Harry had told her. He nodded. Dumbledore signaled to the teams. They gathered around behind Harry. The Slytherins went behind Draco. The teams exchanged glares.  
  
"I think it is possible that Slytherin might have won," Dumbledore said. The Slytherins smirked.  
  
"But," he said and the smirks faded like water held up next to the sun. "Something happened to Mr. Potter's broom. We do not know how it happened. So, we will have a rematch in three weeks after winter break!"  
  
They all groaned. Everyone did not want to do this over again. Draco had caught the snitch for the first time in his life and it counted for nothing. The teams left the field rancor.

* * *

_Slytherins actually won the game!_ Ron thought. He had been thinking that for the whole day. Had it had been someone else being this repetitive, he would have hurt him or her for being so sodding annoying. Well, maybe he wouldn't hurt them, but he would sure try his best with words if all else failed.  
  
He looked at Hermione. She was doing her Arithmancy homework.  
  
"Hermione, a TV, I think you called it, has pictures that move and talk, right? They're like mini-plays?" He asked.  
  
She nodded and Ron looked up towards the ceiling.  
  
"It would be cool to have one now!" he said absently.  
  
She grunted.  
  
Ron took no notice. He picked up his DaDA book and turned the pages until he found the one he needed. He sat and wrote up his three-page report on why ostracizing a hellhound is more important than killing it.

* * *

Harry stared at the ceiling. There was nothing to really do. He didn't feel like himself. The last thing he remembered was reading Hermione's book. Then, he found himself here, in his room. What had he been doing? He didn't want to ask because he was worried someone would find him crazy and lock him up. He had to figure it out or no one would.  
  
He looked at Dean and Seamus. They sat on Seamus' bed and looked at a naughty magazine. They laughed and Harry shook his head. He would never do that. The way he was the worst thing he had done, par-say. In his book, he wasn't supposed to be different. He was supposed to be like every other boy, having no scar, nemesis, or an ex-boyfriend. Then again, he wasn't alone. There was Ron and Draco too. The two of them together upset him, made his stomach turn.  
  
Harry jerked and placed his hand on his head. He saw green, felt wind rushing forward, and heard his own voice scream "get out of my head!" He saw Draco, the snitch. He remembered screaming again, fighting with someone he couldn't see, and almost falling off his broom. Finally, he saw Draco fly over and then hand him the snitch. Everything went dark.  
  
He opened his eyes. Dean was gawking at him where as Seamus had passed out, the magazine slumped on the floor. His arm was dangling off the bed.  
  
"What?" he asked.  
  
Dean looked from him to Seamus and got up. He rushed to the door. "I am going to go get Ron," he said quietly.  
  
Harry could hear the sound of Dean's feet running down the stairs.

* * *

Ron watched Dean scramble down the stairs. It was a lot more attention grabbing than Fred and George chasing Angelina Spinett so they could copy her homework. Dean was paler it seemed, but Ron could not tell. He would have thought he would have been able to, as Dean was black.  
  
The guy ran up to him.  
  
"Harry... gone mad..." he said through ragged breath.  
  
Ron gave him a weird look for being out of breath.  
  
"Harry's as sane as a land gnome!" Ron exclaimed. "Wait... that's not right... well anyway, he is pretty sane!"  
  
"Just come on! I will explain," Dean said, calming down. "He had one hell of a spasm. Something is wrong with him!"  
  
Ron followed Dean into the room. Harry had his face into the pillow. Seamus was in a stunned position that jolted Ron.  
  
"He went star-craven' mad!" Dean exclaimed. "He turned to Seamus and his face was all bloody-looking with eyes like a weasel and his hands kept up like an eagle's claw surrounding a fish. They came to a point. He made some sort of inhumane sound and then..."  
  
Dean took a deep breath. He looked as rattled as Ron was.  
  
"...He looked normal," Dean finished.  
  
Harry rolled over and looked at them.  
  
"If I wasn't supposed to hear any of that, it is too late," he said.  
  
Ron looked at Dean. Dean scrambled back over to Seamus.  
  
"Harry, something's wrong!" Ron said.  
  
"Well, I think that's obvious, you git!" Harry exclaimed.  
  
"Should we tell Dumbledore?"  
  
Harry shook his head.  
  
"No, but check with Malfoy. Ask him what I was doing during the game. I know we had one!" Harry said. "I saw it five minutes ago!"  
  
"You saw it?" Ron asked, confused.  
  
"Yes, I bloody saw it!" Harry replied.  
  
Ron ran off. He wanted to get Draco, only he felt like he NEEDED to get him for Harry. Ron didn't remember that he shouldn't approach Draco in front of Draco's friends. As a matter of fact, Draco wasn't with anyone. He was walking by himself.  
  
"Harry needs to talk to you!" Ron cried.  
  
Draco shook his head.  
  
"He has already given me enough trouble!" Draco exclaimed.  
  
"He doesn't know what happened! He wasn't himself!" Ron cried.  
  
Draco shrugged.  
  
"Are you sure it isn't just his real self coming out?" Draco asked.  
  
Ron rolled his eyes. He grabbed Draco by his sleeve. For a "girly-guy", Ron was strong. Then again, Draco was good at verbal fights and punching and little else. So he couldn't exactly try to stop him. About five minutes later, Ron was exhausted and let go, but by then, Draco was coming willingly.

* * *

Draco paraded through the Gryffindor common room like he owned it and up the stairs.  
  
"Um..." Ron said.  
  
Draco turned around.  
  
"That's the girls' dormitory!" Ron told him.  
  
Draco blushed a light pink- all his pale skin could manage.  
  
"I knew that! I just wanted a little excitement!" He said.  
  
Ron glared at him, feeling very insulted. Draco came back down and took the other stairs. He put his hand to a door.  
  
"No," Ron said.  
  
Draco looked at him, his eyebrows knitted.  
  
"Why not? Whose room is this?" Draco asked.  
  
Ron shook his head.  
  
"Just don't," he said.  
  
Draco opened it anyway. Rats crawled out over his feet. He screeched and slammed the door. The rats turned into liquorice wands.  
  
"What the bloody Hell?" Draco exclaimed.  
  
"That would be my brothers' room!" Ron replied.  
  
Draco gave him a look.  
  
"Why don't you lead now!" he said.  
  
"That was what I was doing until you ran ahead of me!" Ron exclaimed.  
  
Ron led him up to Harry's room. When he opened the door, Seamus was conscious and chewing Harry out.  
  
"Okay, you stupid prat, what'd you call me up here for?" Draco asked.  
  
Harry smirked.  
  
"You would make a great butler, Malfoy, doing exactly as you just said: coming when you're called. Of course, a dog does that too!" Harry commented.  
  
Draco clenched his hands into fists, wand tucked inside his cloak. It would take him almost five seconds to grab it.  
  
"Seamus, Dean, can we please have sometime alone?" Ron asked.  
  
They gladly edged out of the room. Seamus rushed back in and grabbed the magazine. Then, he turned and left.  
  
"According to you from the game, you wanted me to die, but you got yourself pretty close! If your broom hadn't pulled out of that dive, you would have killed yourself running into the ground!" Draco told him.  
  
Harry took a deep breath.  
  
"Ron, tell Malfoy what Dean told you!" Harry exclaimed.  
  
'Why can't you?" Ron exclaimed. "You were there!"  
  
Harry gave him a look and Ron took a deep breath. Draco laughed.  
  
"If You-Know-Who got you, Ron, you wouldn't last and neither would Harry with you giving in like that!" Draco exclaimed.  
  
Ron angered but told him anyway.  
  
"So you want me to help him?" Draco said. Ron shrugged.  
  
"Do YOU want me to help him?" Draco demanded.  
  
"Yeah..." Ron said slowly, looking away.  
  
"Potter, you are coming over to my house for winter break!" Draco said.  
  
"Why? How would that help?" Harry asked.  
  
Draco rolled his eyes.  
  
"Because everyone feels better after running down the street stark-naked yelling 'Victor Krum rocks my socks!'" Draco exclaimed.  
  
Harry looked at him.  
  
"No, you prat, my family has the best Dark Arts artifacts. Dark Arts artifacts are the best way to locate Dark Art spells and identify them!" Draco said.  
  
"Hermione would have to come too!" Harry cried.  
  
Draco shook his head.  
  
"No!" he said firmly.  
  
"Why?" Harry asked.  
  
Draco opened up his hand and began counting off his fingers. "One: I hate her. Two: I hate her. Three: I bloody hate her. Four-" he started. "Malfoy, we get the point!" Harry exclaimed.  
  
"Wait! I am not done yet!" Draco cried. "Now, four: she's a mudblood. Five: my house has wards against mudbloods!"  
  
"I would put that under number four,' Ron said.  
  
Draco and Harry ignored him.  
  
"Next Sunday, six-thirty in the morning, outside!" Draco exclaimed and walked out. Ron ran after Draco. "That was very nice of you!" Ron said resting his hand on Draco's shoulder.  
  
Draco didn't say anything and the portrait swung open to let him out. Ron still followed. He was determined.  
  
"You deserve a treat," Ron said.  
  
"Don't want one," Draco mumbled.  
  
Ron rushed ahead, blocking his path.  
  
"Do it for me!" Ron begged.  
  
"Fine," Draco said. "What do you want to do?"

* * *

Sunday... should Harry despise the day? He did not know. It was a disaster waiting to happen, he was sure. Yet, something told him this could be very beneficial. Another thing, though, was that Hermione could probably figure this out on her own for him but this year, her mind was... well... gone. There was no other way for Harry to put it. He always thought he was the traumatized kid not her. She had been like the angel bringing light on her wings and taking away the pain and suffering. She was a person he had always depended on although he liked to think there was no one he depended on or could. This was different; she was different. The world had changed before his eyes over a summer.  
  
Harry bit his lip. Another thing that bothered him is he never really found a way to be happy. It was so sorrowful to him. He liked to think he had done no one any wrong and in fact, he couldn't think of a time he had. He might have but he couldn't remember. Ron had found it and Hermione hadn't. He saw what affect it had on her. Harry had no wish to lose his mind. He needed some way to entertain himself. That was quite hard for Harry. Quidditch was a way but no one was probably willing to play with him and Professor Flitwick had his broom.  
  
Harry bent over his bed and looked through his trunk. He had gone over to his father's house, growing up, over the summer with the Weasleys. From there, he had found a journal that his father had kept. Harry hadn't read very much of it as he hated to read and he had been busy.  
  
Now, he opened the book and it made a crackling sound as if it was a new book. Harry flipped through a couple pages and began to read.  
  
_Journal of Mine,  
  
I was walking with Sirus, the tough chap, today. A girl passed by. Oh, she is amazing! Her hair is Chestnut and her eyes, hazel. What it would be like to kiss her apple, flowery lips. Her name is Lily Evans. A heart of gold. Another student of despicable taste, Serverus Snape, was there. He dropped his stuff and she helped him. I laughed and she gave me a bloody awful stare. That slimy git! I will hurt him. Sirus is good with the punches and me with the words. We can take him. If only she will look at me. Maybe it will catch her eye. Maybe she will come on Heaven's wings, down the golden stairs from the utopia called Heaven from which she came, and talk to me. I am afraid she will hate me. I know I will say something cunning but will she like it?  
  
_It was where his father had fallen in love with his mother. He thought of how everyone had told him how strong his father was. Yet, he found that when it came to his mother, his father was weak.  
  
Harry realized he was crying and used his sleeve to wipe the tears from his face. He took a deep breath. Harry glanced to the door and flipped through for another entry.

* * *

Ron woke up. Something had unsettled him form his sleep. He had gotten back not too long ago to the dorm, as he had gotten back late. Something was in the room. There was wind. There was more.  
  
He looked below. The window was open. The moon was translucent, shining dimly. A figure stood next to the window. Ron leaned forward to get a better look. The bed creaked and it looked up.  
  
The thing, if he dare even call it that, was horrifying. A hump it had developed on its back. Its face, its hair, its ears! The thing was something frightening to uphold. Its hair was wild and black like the night, almost shaggy. The eyes were a ruby red, if he dared even describe it as anything close to pretty. The hands, oh the hands were drawn up into points. They were bloody daggers that had just finished a kill. The distressed sneer held a look all its own that embezzled all beauty that was ever known. Ron was most horrified to think that probably only minutes ago it had been Harry.  
  
He leaned forward. It looked up at him. It stared into his eyes. Just behind those glinting eyes was a boy in a glass cage. The boy beat upon the translucent walls. He could not get out and no one could here him. He slumped down against the icy-cold wall. No one could help him. He was lost and alone.  
  
An unsettled Ron found his second-hand wand from within the cloak of his presently dressed self. Ron pointed his wand at the thing that had taken away his friend. What it was, what it was doing was not quite unknown as it clumsily tried to climb out the window that was over ten stories above the ground.  
  
"Stupefy!" Ron cried, his voice slightly hoarse and unsounding.  
  
A tiny blast came from his wand and hit the thing like a flea.  
  
"Stupefy!" he shouted this time.  
  
The thing slumped over the window. Ron jumped off the bed and grabbed the slowly returning Harry from plunging to his death. He caught sight of Harry's broom hovering just outside the window and brought it in. He shut the window and "dropped" Harry's limp body onto Harry's bed. Ron watched as Harry's wide-open stunned eyes took on their green luster. Ron's heart slowed and he sat on the floor, watching, waiting, and hoping for it not to happen again. 


	4. Chapter Three

* * *

Chapter Three  
  
Draco stretched out in his bed. It was getting quite small as his feet touched the board at the end of the bed when he stretched. His roommates, Crabbe, Goyle, and Blaise were still asleep.  
  
The sun's rays did not reach his room so he didn't know what time it was. The dungeon room was cold and he brought his knees up to his waist for warmth. Draco didn't want to get out of bed. He had no reason to. If the others weren't up than he didn't need to be. Draco lay there for a minute before he finally got up. He walked up the stairs to the common room. The fireplace was still going so he took a seat on the couch that lay near it. Draco pulled a snake-crested blanket over his long legs. It was quiet. How much he wished to sleep but he couldn't. There was nothing traumatizing or anything bugging him that kept him awake. He simply couldn't sleep.  
  
Draco picked up a book he found on the table. He read the cover.  
  
"'Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare, the edited version'," he said aloud.  
  
He laughed to himself and opened the book. He had never heard about it before.

* * *

Harry woke up slumped against the wall, sitting upon his bed. His hand flew to his head. He had a horrible headache. Harry let himself collapse onto his bed.  
  
"Ow!" he cried out as cramps identified themselves.  
  
A head popped up beside his bed. Red hair and adorned with freckles, Ron sat up from a sleeping position on the floor.  
  
"Harry, are you okay?" Ron asked.  
  
Harry nodded. He noticed Ron's intense concern.  
  
"Something happened last night, didn't it?" Harry asked.  
  
Ron nodded slowly and Harry's expression went from an aching-sad to a depressed look. Harry bit his bottom lip.  
  
"This has got to stop!" he said. "But how?"  
  
Ron and Harry exchanged glances but neither could really think of anything.  
  
"I guess it is up to Draco," Harry groaned, regretting putting his life, in a matter of speaking, in the guy's hands.  
  
Ron shifted his gaze to look at the sun rising and said nothing. Harry followed with his eyes and watched with no real feeling.  
  
"I'm so bloody hungry," Ron said finally. "Fred and George might have left some food in their stash in the common room!"

* * *

Ron did not know how it all worked. Everything they had had to battle had been physically concrete. Now it was something mental, something deteriorating Harry. It wasn't a good thing, he knew that much but there was little he could do. He picked up a pastry from Fred and George's stash and used his wand to check for enchanted side effects. The Danish looked fine but he was still incredulous.  
  
He groaned.  
  
"Harry," he said, "Just go on to breakfast when everyone else gets up and then to class. I need to sleep!"  
  
Harry looked at him bewildered.  
  
"You can't stay! Points will be taken from our house!" Harry exclaimed.  
  
Ron shook his head.  
  
"It's Care of Magical Creatures! Hagrid teaches that class, you git! He will understand!" Ron replied.  
  
He put down the uneaten Danish and trudged back up the stairs with a yawn. Ron lay back down into bed. His almost fell shut the instant he laid down. He remembered how at his house, that was a hard thing to do with Pig, his owl, making so much noise.

* * *

Ron walked down a street he had never walked before and yet knew the way to some unknown destination. He stopped in front on a nice-sized house. In the front yard, there was a tiny boy playing with his toy cars and trucks.  
  
"Hello!" the boy said.  
  
The boy was about six, Ron guessed. The boy had dark, jet-black hair and green eyes like Harry but he had no scar.  
  
The Harry-who-wasn't looked up at him, holding up a car.  
  
"Help me!" he said.  
  
Ron knitted his eyebrows.  
  
"Help you with what?" he asked.  
  
The Harry-who-wasn't pointed to a 3 foot-tall doll. It was male and had a menacing look to it.  
  
"My cars can't knock it over!" he said.  
  
Ron noticed the kid's back was to chairs and folded tables that were clumped together into a poorly constructed wall.  
  
The boy tried to ram another toy car into the doll but it stayed up straight. Ron could have sworn the doll grinned. The boy clutched his arm like iron clamps. He couldn't release the boy's grip.  
  
"It's coming!" the boy cried. "Help me! Help me knock it over quick!"  
  
Ron shook his head.  
  
"No, I can't! I have to go!" Ron told the Harry-who-wasn't.  
  
He looked up over the makeshift wall. A darkness swept forward, tearing away everything. He heard a haunting laugh. Ron shivered and cried out.

* * *

Ron woke up in a sweat. The dream he had had was more confusing than scary. Something had frightened him. He couldn't do anything, couldn't move at all. Maybe that had frightened him, not being able to do anything. He didn't know.  
  
Ron got out of bed. The room was empty. The beds had been made and everything was quiet. He looked out the window and saw class was still going on. Ron threw on some clothes including his sweater, one he desperately hated, and ran out of the Gryffindor tower.  
  
The wind hit his face like long gusts of arrows being fired only feet in front of him. There was no snow falling, only what was left on the ground.  
  
Ron was walking past the lake when something shot down from Hogwarts into the lake. First, there were ripples and Ron kept walking. Then, the giant squid's tentacles flew out, tearing through the air wildly and Ron began to run. The wind blinded him and brought tears to his eyes. Then, he felt it. A tentacle grabbed him and his feet left the ground. The world swirled around him. There was nothing he could see. He felt it release him and the darkness from his dream rushed up to greet him.

* * *

Draco watched the display happened. He tried to rush forward but two other people caught his eye. Harry was running to help Ron but fell, clutching his forehead. Hermione ran up beside him, holding his shoulders, trying to find out what was wrong. Now dumbfounded, Draco stood going back and forth between the two displays.  
  
Professor McGonagall appeared as if on cue with Madam Pomfrey trailing behind her. They came to Ron as Hermione tried to help Harry in their direction. Hermione could barely manage and fell into the snow with Harry about a few steps later. Draco heard the Slytherins behind him begin to snigger. One hand rested itself on Draco's shoulder. "You seem almost sympathetic!" a voice that was obviously Blaise's said.  
  
Draco rolled his arm in a backward circle to get Blaise's hand off. Accidentally, Draco hit him in the face. Pretending it was no accident, Draco turned and looked down at Blaise.  
  
"I will always be a Slytherin. It doesn't mean I have to laugh at everything another Slytherin laughs at!" he said.  
  
Cameron, another Slytherin sixth year, helped Blaise up, keeping his eyes on Draco the whole time.

* * *

Ron looked at the house that had been painted blue. He had been here before. Only minutes ago, if he remembered correctly. The Harry-who-wasn't looked up at Ron. The boy looked even more fragile than he had the last time Ron was here.  
  
"Help me!" Harry-who-wasn't cried.  
  
Ron wanted to get it over with. He picked up the biggest toy truck the boy had and chucked it at the doll. It wobbled but nothing happened.  
  
"It never works," the boy whispered.  
  
He placed his familiar grip on Ron. The Harry-who-wasn't tightened his grip and shut his eyes. Ron tried to wake up. Something wouldn't let him this time.  
  
"Now he comes," the boy said.  
  
Ron looked around seeing only the darkness.  
  
"Who?" he asked the boy.  
  
Harry-who-wasn't said nothing.  
  
Two people walked out of the house. The man held his wife close. They admired their son from afar. The man turned and saw the darkness. He drew out his wand, placing his wife behind him.  
  
"Stay back!" he cried.  
  
The wife ran over to Harry-who-wasn't.  
  
Darkness surrounded the father, glowing green when it got near. The darkness moved on and Ron noticed the man wasn't there. It came towards Harry-who-wasn't. The woman stood in front of him.  
  
"Leave my son alone! He is innocent!" she cried.  
  
The darkness struck her as it had the father and came for the boy. Ron could not free himself from the boy's grip but he did move directly in front of the boy.  
  
"Do not harm him!" he cried even though he knew it was useless.  
  
A voice inside his head cackled.  
  
"You don't even know him!" the voice laughed.  
  
Ron looked at the quivering little boy. He did indeed not know the boy. He had no clue if it was even Harry.  
  
"It doesn't matter," Ron managed.  
  
He swallowed.  
  
"It doesn't matter!" he said more firmly. "A boy is a boy! There is no such punishment for a boy that he must die! This boy is more innocent and good than whatever you may be! Perish, unworthy foe!" Ron exclaimed.  
  
The voice cackled again.  
  
"You say it as if you have poorly memorized a line from a book!" it said. It came forward. Ron placed his hands in front of his face, but it aimed not for that. He cried out as it swept over him. It came to the boy and the boy went limp. Then, the darkness was gone.  
  
Ron clutched his heart and collapsed down next to the boy. The boy released his grip from Ron. Ron saw the boy now beared a scar like Harry's. He touched the hand that covered Ron's heart.  
  
"You are a hero!" the boy mumbled. "You simply had to take off the disguise!"  
  
Ron shook his head.  
  
"No, Harry!" Ron said. "It is and will always be you!"  
  
The boy smiled and went limp on the ground. The boy glowed, became the Harry that he  
  
knew and recognized, and woke up.  
  
"Ron, what am I doing here?" he asked.

* * *

"Harry!" Hermione cried. "Harry, what's wrong? Talk to me, Harry!"  
  
She shook him. He simply crouched there, moaning. Suddenly, he looked up at her and tried to reach out and touch her face. Harry went limp and collapsed before he could.  
  
"Harry!" she cried.

* * *

Draco walked into the infirmary. Only a curtain separated the beds for Harry and Ron. Hermione was sitting next to Harry's bed at the moment. He walked up to Hermione. She didn't treat him how they all had before their sixth year.  
  
"You know," she said not looking up. "Harry told him how he would sit next to my bed like this in our second year!"  
  
Draco smiled internally.  
  
"Ron loved you too," Draco replied.  
  
Hermione looked up and shook her head.  
  
"Everyone thought we were supposed to be together but he is just too different!" she said. "He told me he didn't try because if what he thought was true, he knew he would hurt you! He has always loved you, Hermione!" Draco said.  
  
She shook her head.  
  
"You are just trying to make me not be able to decide between the two!" she exclaimed.  
  
"Isn't it like that already?" he asked.  
  
Hermione looked back to Harry.  
  
"Tell me about them," Draco said.  
  
She looked up as if she could see through the curtain to Ron's bed.  
  
"I always believed we were always a part of each other, Ron, Harry, and me. Harry was the soul, brave and not afraid of anything. Ron was the heart, always compassionate, keeping us alive. I, well, I must have been the mind. They were always doing crazy stuff," Hermione said, laughing through her tears. "And I was always getting them out of it, or at least trying to! When someone got hurt, it was always I! But now, it was them not me. I always thought of how we were connected like a body, needing each other. Yet, the mind and the soul are connected to the outside world where as the heart stays in the middle of the body, only keeping it alive. I always thought that was where you fit in! You were always getting in fights with Harry and me, rarely Ron. He was held back by either Harry or me while the other came after you! He needed some sort of connection and that was you!"  
  
Draco looked down, away from her gaze. He heard take an intake of breath before it was caught in her throat. He looked up. Harry's eyes were opened but he did nothing.  
  
"Madam Pomfrey!" he cried as Hermione nearly fainted.  
  
Harry looked around. He felt all of himself there and then a part of him left. Harry looked at his hands. He had gone transparent. Ron gasped.

* * *

Harry bit his bottom lip.  
  
"What just happened?" he asked.  
  
Ron explained what happened. Harry nodded. They both jumped when a wet nose touched them. A dog squeezed its way in between them. It looked from Ron, to Harry and gave him a lick.  
  
"Licking isn't my favorite thing, but there is little else I can do here!" The dog exclaimed.  
  
They jumped.  
  
"Sirus?" Harry asked.  
  
The dog turned to face him and bobbed its head.  
  
"Its me! Prongs told me you were here!" the dog said.  
  
"But how?" Harry asked.  
  
The dog huffed.  
  
"This is the place where the past and death are connected. Usually, a person relives their worst memory here!" Sirus the dog said. "Prongs, your father, lived this moment when he died, only the real thing, then when Lily died. And now, he has gone through yours only yours is different! Yours has... this!"  
  
The dog motioned to all around them.  
  
"What I don't understand is why your friend, Ron, is here! He hasn't lived through it!" Sirus exclaimed.  
  
"How did my father and you get here?" Harry asked.  
  
"Only dead animaguses can come into this place. The bad thing about it is if they are in that worst memory, they live it over again." He explained.  
  
Ron shook as if getting a bad feeling off of him.  
  
"Do you know why Harry is... well, the way he is?" Ron asked.  
  
Sirus looked Harry up and down. He stopped panting which was a dog's habit.  
  
"Someone must have separated Harry's soul from his body!" Sirus said. "Just like, your missing your heart."  
  
Ron shook his head and put his hand over his chest.  
  
"My what?"

* * *

Draco watched as Madam Pomfrey went from Harry to Ron. Dumbledore hovered behind her. Draco and Hermione exchanged glances. Madam Pomfrey turned to Dumbledore and made no attempt to whisper it.  
  
"Amazing, Albus!" she exclaimed. "Both if them still live but Harry is missing his soul, making him an empty shell, and Ron is missing his heart but is still alive!" Dumbledore nodded and came over to them.  
  
"Ron is in a coma and Harry..." Dumbledore began, obviously not knowing how to describe his condition, "is fine. It is best of no one walks in and sees Harry like this however. He is not full recovered. Get some sleep, both of you!"  
  
They exchanged glances and walked out.  
  
"What are we going to do?" she asked.  
  
Draco couldn't help but wrinkle his nose.  
  
"We?" he asked.  
  
She nodded.  
  
"How else are we going to figure this out unless the top of each house helps!" she exclaimed.  
  
He rolled his eyes.  
  
"In case the incident damaged you too, we aren't head boy and girl, whatever your fantasies are!" he exclaimed.  
  
"None of them contain you! Why would they contain a snake unless I was going to cut it in half!"  
  
Draco laughed.  
  
"We are the smartest people from our houses, you prat!" she exclaimed.  
  
He nodded, trying not to look like he had just realized that was what she was talking about.  
  
She led him to the library. They sneaked past Madam Price to the Restricted section.  
  
"So what exactly are we looking for?" Draco asked.  
  
She shook her head and rolled her eyes.  
  
"Just think about what happened to Harry and Ron plus what we heard and look for something that covers it!" She exclaimed.  
  
"I can only think of books that are at my house but would never be found here!" He exclaimed.  
  
She hit him on the arm and began to search.

* * *

Hermione turned the page of Mental Deaths of Famous Wizards. She was so tired. Hermione felt her eyes drooping and she couldn't keep them open. She let out a yawn. "Just one little snooze wouldn't hurt!" she thought.

* * *

Hermione walked up to the house. Two little boys were playing with a dog. They were black and white; no other colors were displayed on them, completely wasted on the surroundings rather. The boys were skinny and one held a familiar scar on his forehead. One ran up to her.  
  
"Stay with us, Hermione!" he said and she knew it was Ron. "We get younger by the hour! We never have to worry!"  
  
Hermione bit her bottom lip. She noticed a three-foot doll. It scared her.  
  
"What is this?" she asked, walking over to touch it.  
  
"No!" the dog seemed to cry out even though she knew dogs didn't talk. It leaped at her. By the time it pushed her aside, she had already touched the thing. Light flashed and a darkness came along.

* * *

Draco shook Hermione.  
  
"Wake up!" he exclaimed.  
  
She wouldn't move. He hit her. She jolted and jumped wake.  
  
"Oh Merlin!" was all she could say.


	5. Chapter Four

Chapter Four  
  
Hermione explained her dream to Draco and he listened intently. She had fallen asleep so suddenly that she had tore a page to the book she had been skimming. It had been hard for Draco not to notice.  
  
She rather bored him, but lately, anything was weird and had a suspicious nature to Draco.  
  
"I really got something out of it!" she told him.  
  
He nodded blankly.  
  
"No, I did!" she exclaimed. "Someone is gathering us to them. It is almost as if they are building a person. With the right parts, it could even be a weapon that they are building! You-Know-Who has a body already, there is no use for one, but why not take parts instead if wholes when they are more easily manipulated that way?"  
  
He nodded.  
  
"Yes, Voldemort this, Voldemort that! Do you ever get bloody tired of it? I mean, take a sodding break!" he exclaimed.  
  
Madam Price glared at him, her finger to her lips. He blushed slightly.  
  
"When you are with Harry," she said with the same calmness she normally spoke, not showing outward offense to his comment, "It is your everyday. There are no breaks from danger that is always there."  
  
He huffed and rolled his eyes.  
  
"Sounds familiar," he said, looking past her.  
  
Hermione waved her hand in front of his face.  
  
"I'm over here!" she said.  
  
"I know!" he exclaimed, his eyes slightly wider in frustration.  
  
"Then continue looking!" she exclaimed. "We don't have all the time in the world!"  
  
"Yes and you are missing your classes!" he replied.  
  
She fingered the time-turner. She had "stolen" it back from Professor McGonagall.  
  
"Not really," she said.  
  
He rolled his eyes again and picked up a book from a pile he had made.

* * *

Ron pet Sirus on the head and crossed his legs. Prongs, as Sirus referred to Harry's father, and Harry had been talking for a while.  
  
Sirus put a paw on Ron's leg.  
  
"I know,' he said, "it is hard being his best friend. James and Harry alike are the center of attention. The difference is Harry is important. His life plays a major role in everyone's future. He won't always be able to save anyone. That is why he has you!"  
  
Ron shook his head.  
  
"I am not meant to be of importance! I don't even think I was supposed to meet him! I am like a pillow, if it makes any sense at all! When he gets tired, he can take a break with me," Ron replied. "I am almost like the only person who he doesn't have to be a hero around!"  
  
Ron could have sworn Sirus laughed.  
  
"You have just described yourself as important," Sirus said.

* * *

"Yeah," Harry said to his father, "I found your diary and found that entry!"  
  
"Yes," his father replied. "It was the good old days. You look so much like me but I can see your mother in you, especially in your eyes."  
  
Harry felt so comfortable with his father.  
  
They had talked about so much and his father was so loving, understanding, and, what mattered most, he was accepting and unconditional.  
  
"If only your mo-" his father began.  
  
Harry's eyes widened as his father began to disappear. He reached out, tried to stop it.  
  
"No!" he screamed.  
  
Harry could no longer see him. He looked over to Ron, who was in just as much alarm.  
  
"Welcome," a voice laughed.

* * *

Draco flipped through the copy of Romeo and Juliet he had found.  
  
"Ron, this is a rather curious book!" he said. "I wonder if you would like it!"  
  
Draco found his page. He sat in the infirmary next to Ron's bed. Hermione was still looking but he had taken a break.  
  
"'Welcome, gentleman,'" Draco began from a random point in the book. "'Ladies that have their toes unplagued with corns will walk about with you.'-Do you get it, Ron? Ah! My imagination has gone uncanny- 'Ah, my mistresses, which of you all  
  
"' Will now deny to dance? She that makes dainty,  
  
"'She, I'll swear hath corns. Am I come near you now?'"  
  
Draco began to laugh.  
  
"This Capulet guy is pretty funny!" he remarked.  
  
"Are you talking to yourself?" a voice questioned.  
  
He swung around. Hermione was behind him, amused.  
  
"Yes, it makes me more admired!" he remarked sarcastically.  
  
She shook her head.  
  
"You are such a smarmy brat!" she exclaimed.  
  
"You must admit then, that I make smarmy brat look good!" he exclaimed.  
  
She shook her head, rolling her eyes toward the ceiling.  
  
"I found something," she said after a few minutes.

* * *

Harry watched as the doll transfigured into a boy his age. The boy laughed hauntingly. He had dark hair like hair but his eyes were blue and seemed to hold tiny flames within them. It was as if the boy held his own little Hell within himself.  
  
"Hello and welcome to your nightmare! I will be your tour guide!" The boy said. "You can call me-"  
  
"Oh fun!" Ron interrupted. "We get a tour guide! Do we get name tags too?"  
  
Harry glared at him. It was no time to be funny.  
  
"What?" Ron exclaimed. "I just wanted to liven it up! I am used to Draco's comments for goodness sake!"  
  
The boy shook his head, glaring.  
  
"No," Harry said.  
  
Ron gave him a look.  
  
"No," Harry repeated.  
  
"Call me Tom," he said stiffly, holding back his anger.  
  
"Okay Tom," Harry said, stalling while his mind woke up, "Why don't you tell us a bit about yourself?"  
  
"I have no times for your mind games, Potter. Maybe killing me wasn't enough fin!" the boy snorted.  
  
Harry gave him a puzzled look.  
  
"That's right, Potter! How did it feel to beat me in your second year? Don't act so surprised! No book binds me now!" Tom said.  
  
Harry shook his head as Ron came and stood beside him.  
  
"I mean, I thought if Harry Potter could take my soul and kill it, why not do the same to him, slowly? I tried to bring you here but got the filthy Weasley. It's not a problem! I don't want every part of you, Potter! I am just gong to steal your body like in a horror movie, only for real!" he said. "Like your heart, it is too- I don't even want to say the word! And this Malfoy, Draco, will do nicely! I only need tell him who I am for him to follow me! If not, his father can do the job!"  
  
Tom ran his hand through his hair and grinned again. The ground swirled beneath them. They found themselves in a place full of paths. The one in the direct center seemed to zoom up beneath his feet as Harry looked around frantically. This was one bad nightmare.  
  
Suddenly, it stopped. Harry stood before a padded chair with his name on it.  
  
"Have a seat, Harry," a voice said as Tom walked out of the darkness in the room. Tom held out his hand and blasted Harry into the seat. Suddenly, the chair jerked. Harry swung his head around. The lettering flew off in the form of bats leaving the words "TOM V. RIDDLE" on the chair. The padding sunk into the chair and became stone. Before all of this, though, clamps closed onto his wrists and ankles.  
  
"Why don't you lay back your head, Potter? I am sure you'll find it most comfortable!" Tom laughed.  
  
Harry sat up a little straighter. When was this going to end?

* * *

Draco looked past her as the shadow behind the curtain moved. He quickly went to look. Ron began to struggle with some imaginary force as if he was tied down. He clenched his fists so they were bone white. Afraid, Draco tried to open them. Once he pried one open, it closed on his hand. He muffled a scream as it felt like his hand was being crushed. Draco twisted and pulled his hand out of the grasp.  
  
"Hermione!" he called.  
  
"It's happening to Harry too!" she replied.  
  
He hurried over. Sure enough, it was.  
  
"We need to do whatever it is now!" he exclaimed/  
  
She nodded and opened the book in her hands.  
  
"There is a way to enter their dreams and bring them back to consciousness but it risks ruining their mental health!" she said.  
  
Draco rolled his eyes.  
  
"Can't happen to Weasley! His mental health is already ruined!" Draco said. Hermione glared at him.  
  
"What?" he cried. "He likes me, doesn't he?"  
  
She flipped to a page and began chanting words he didn't understand.

* * *

Draco noticed they were surrounded by darkness. Slowly, his eyes adjusted. Mainly because there was a dim light from a source he could not identify. In front of them, there were three paths: one in the center, one to the left, and one to the right.  
  
"Malfoy, take the middle. I am going to the right!" Hermione said.  
  
"Why can't I choose the one I want?" He asked.  
  
"Fine," she said.  
  
"I'll go left," he said.  
  
She started down the right path.  
  
"Wait!" Draco cried.  
  
She stopped.  
  
"Aren't you going to ask me why?" he exclaimed.  
  
"Why?" she asked, rather annoyed.  
  
"Because the left is where I would go to find my father. It is the evil side, the side I belong on!" he exclaimed.  
  
She rolled her eyes, as it made no sense. Draco knew that but that didn't stop him. He charged down the left path at a fast pace. Soon, he came to another fork in the "road." He didn't know which way to go. While deciding, he looked at one path and saw, as each was more like a tunnel, on the walls that were so black, it looked like they were nothingness had signs. The one to the left had "kidneys, large intestine".  
  
Draco realized it was like a body. It was as Hermione had said. Maybe she hadn't gone crazy after all. He thought of what she had said about Harry, Ron, and her. They were each part of a body.  
  
Draco looked at the signs. He couldn't find one he wanted. Draco chose the one that said "lungs."  
  
He ran down the path. Draco found himself in a room. There were two chairs, both on opposite ends of the room. Each had a name written on it. Officially freaked out, Draco wondered what to do. In doing so, he leaned against the wall. Instead of supporting him, he fell through. Draco found that it was another passageway that hadn't been lit up. He put his hand around him and found the walls. He used them to guide him through. At the end, he was in another room, only there was someone there. The person was obviously male and somewhat tall. The person was slumped over; their head sagged onto their chest as they breathed in and out slowly. The person's shoulders shook. It seemed as if the person was crying.  
  
"Hello?" Draco said.  
  
The person lifted up their head slowly. It was then that light flowed into the room. Draco noticed the person was cuffed to the chair by manacles. Their hair shimmered from the light. Draco could recognize the fiery red hair of a Weasley anywhere.  
  
"Ron?" Draco asked.  
  
The person stared at him, blankly. Their eyes drooped and they had bags under them. Draco came closer.  
  
"Merlin, man! What is wrong with you?" he asked.  
  
He didn't say anything.  
  
Draco took out his wand from his pocket.  
  
"I wonder how I can get you out of here! I mean, I would think you would have tried!" Draco said.  
  
He put his wand to one of the fetters.  
  
"Alohomora!" he exclaimed.  
  
It opened. He smiled to himself and did the same to the others. Then, he said another spell, the reductor curse, after he helped Ron off the chair. The chair exploded and Draco and Ron were protected only by Draco's shield charm. He hit Ron.  
  
"Hey! Wake up!" Draco exclaimed.  
  
Ron glared at him and Draco knew he was awake.  
  
"Now, get up!" Draco commanded.  
  
Ron stood up slowly and swaggered. Draco helped him steady himself.  
  
"You're going to need to run!" Draco exclaimed.  
  
"Why?" Ron asked.  
  
"Just do it!" Draco replied and sprinted off.

* * *

Hermione walked down the path. It never really branched out to the right, always the left. Knowing bad things are always left, she stayed going forward. It went up at a slant. She wondered how she was ever going to find Harry or Ron. They were so important and close to her, she was used to knowing when she got father away or closer to them. Right now, she felt neither. Hermione didn't know how that worked.  
  
Then, she wondered if her spell had even work! It had warnings underneath the spell to tell her what could happen if she had said it wrong. Hermione began to become quite nervous at the thought.  
  
Hermione noticed that the floor, or path, had widened. It was all she could see, as the walls that she had found were there were so hard to see. In the center of the circle the floor formed, there was a chair. It was padded with red fabric and noticed it had her name on it. It was almost as if someone had taken a desire that was there, even though she hated that she felt it, and brought to life, well, this place at least. It seemed almost like a trick. Hermione knelt down before the chair to see if there was a switch or something on it. She didn't see anything dangerous. With a smile and what she would call a wicked thought, she sat down in the chair.  
  
"Temptation is so well rewarded," a voice said.  
  
Manacles rose out of the padding on the chair, holding her to it. Her feet as well as her hands were bound with cold steel. The padding, then, disappeared, becoming stone. It felt as if something moved through her hair. Hermione screamed and shook her head. Bats came flying from just above her head.  
  
"Or maybe that is just me!" the voice continued.  
  
Out of the darkness walked a man. He had black hair and blue-fire eyes, a description she had never hoped to do more that picture.

* * *

He heard Ron running behind him to catch up. They went back to where Draco had first appeared. He stopped and waited for Ron. Draco heard a high- pitched scream. When Ron appeared, Draco said, "Ron, take the right path! Use your wand and find Hermione! Listen for her to scream again! I am going to take the middle!"  
  
"What's down the middle?" Ron asked.  
  
"I'm going to find out!" he said.  
  
Draco went off without another word. He looked at the paths to figure out which way he was going. Every now and then, part of the path would branch off, but Draco kept straight. Eventually, he did come to a fork in the "road." He looked at the paths and noticed the middle one wasn't labeled. His sense of curiosity drove him forward. Eventually, he found a room similar to the one he had found where Ron had been. Again, there was a guy with his head slouched in a chair. Draco knew who it was. Draco walked over and shook the guy.  
  
"Potter, you prat, wake up!" Draco exclaimed.  
  
It didn't work. He tried Alohomora on the manacles. They opened but Harry seemed to still be stuck to the chair.  
  
"Lumos!" Draco whispered.  
  
His wand began lit at one end. He saw more clearly. Something kept Harry to the chair. Above it said, "TOM V. RIDDLE." Curiously, Draco ran his hand over the name of his father's lord. The manacles closed again. His eyes widened. The name was a key. He ran his fingers over the name again and after they opened, Harry slid out of the chair, limp. Draco used an awakening charm, as Harry really needed it. His eyes opened slowly. "Why are you doing this?" Harry asked, still groggy.  
  
"Everything I do is for Ron," Draco said.  
  
"No," Harry said, "Ron would save me himself."  
  
Draco was amused but also aggravated.  
  
"Weasley is busy saving Hermione," Draco replied.  
  
Harry stood up slowly.  
  
"Let's go," he said.  
  
Draco looked around the room. There was a door on almost every inch of the wall. He looked at all of them.  
  
"Look," he called to Harry, "this one says, 'mind.'"  
  
They opened it and walked up stairs that were before them. At the top, they tried to open the door. Instead, they fell through. They saw into the room. They saw Hermione and Tom, but they were stuck inside the door.  
  
"So, I see you like my traps!" Tom laughed.

* * *

Ron ran down the path. He really didn't know why. Maybe it was because there was a protective side of him that finally decided to show itself. He didn't really think about it much further but rather slowed to a power walk.  
  
Ron had simply not chosen another path. He didn't want to chance straying because it could get him even more lost. This way, he only went straight.  
  
Ron heard commotion not far ahead. He quickened his pace and stopped as it turned a corner. He glanced around it. Ron saw something that shocked him. All together and defenseless were Draco, Harry, and Hermione. Hermione had been chained to a chair as he had with the words "TOM V. RIDDLE" engraved above her head.  
  
Speaking of Tom, Ron saw him hovering behind the chair, a hand on his hip. The other hand was pointed at Harry and Draco as he gawked in pleasure and amusement. Surely, it was odd. Harry and Draco were somehow halfway in the wall, almost fused with it. "Surely, I did not anticipate for young Malfoy here so soon, but it was to be expected of course! Saving Mr. Potter is not a trait I have seen before in your bloodline!" Tom said. Ron definitely was puzzled. It made no sense how Tom, the one from the diary that had knocked out his sister and nearly killed her, could be here. He didn't even know where "here" was. Harry had destroyed the Tom in the diary.  
  
Sirus had said that when you died, you lived your worst memory over again. Yet, Ron hadn't been a part of Harry's and he certainly wasn't dead. He didn't know how such a place as they were in could exist.  
  
"I am surprised you can see at all with that atrocious haircut!" Draco exclaimed. Hermione looked in his direction. He managed to catch her eye. Her eyes got wide and became pleading, asking for something.  
  
Ron picked out his wand from his cloak. He pointed it at Tom. Instead of casting a spell, he stared at the wand. Something was stopping him. He couldn't think of anything that could.  
  
Finding his voice, Ron cried, "Avada Kedavra!"  
  
A light shot out from his wand and struck Tom square in the back. Everything except Tom, Harry, Draco, Hermione, and him became blackness. Tom laughed.  
  
"I am already dead!" he exclaimed. "You can't kill me and you sure as well can't hide!" He turned and faced Ron. His hair seemed to flare up and the fiery color hidden in his eyes became dominant. Ron wanted to cower but he couldn't really manage to do anything.  
  
"Reducio!" a voice cried.  
  
Before Ron knew it, he was standing before a high-pitched talking action figure. Draco came up beside him and put a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"Didn't know you had it in you to commit a dark curse!" Draco remarked, raising his eyebrows.  
  
Hermione held a bottle in her hand. He had no idea where that came from but he took it. She was no longer in a chair and hadn't been in it since he had said the curse. Hermione nodded. He looked at her, puzzled. It took him a moment to realize what he was supposed to do.  
  
Ron bent down and placed the jar over-top of Tom. He then slid it so that Tom was inside of it. Hermione tapped it and placed a strong shielding charm around the jar so Tom couldn't get out if his wand worked in miniature size.  
  
"We make a great team!" Ron said.  
  
Draco laughed.  
  
"A team? I don't call this teamwork! I mean it was more like all of you guys getting rescued!" Draco smirked.  
  
"Keep in mind, Malfoy, you were the one stuck in the wall!" Harry exclaimed.  
  
"Well, so were you!" Draco retorted.  
  
"Shut up or I'll break your pretty boy nose!" Harry exclaimed.  
  
"So you admit that I am prettier than you!" Draco laughed.  
  
Harry took a step closer, his fist in front him.  
  
"I think everything is going to be okay," Ron said to Hermione.  
  
Hermione nodded.  
  
"How are we going to get out?" she asked.  
  
He nodded toward where he came from as the paths reappeared.  
  
"Follow me," he said.  
  
They walked all the way back to the place where Hermione and Draco had come in. "So, where's the door?" Harry asked.  
  
"We don't need one," Hermione replied.  
  
"What? Let me guess, he is the key!" Draco smirked, gesturing towards the jar. Ron nodded.  
  
"Exactly."  
  
Ron held the jar and threw it like one who was passing a football would, mashing it against the wall. Instead of some door appearing, the walls became visible, the floor gone, and they fell. 


	6. Chapter Five

Chapter Five  
  
Harry woke up with a jolt. The infirmary had its stale smell that let him know where he was. He sat up. Draco and Hermione were slumped on the floor at the end of the bed. Hermione's arms were crossed beneath her, a book separating her arms and chest. After a complete look of what he could see, he found Madam Pomfrey wasn't in the room.  
  
Harry swung his feet off the bed and stood up. Draco stirred. Harry walked around Draco and Hermione. He went around the curtain wall and saw that Ron was awake too.  
  
"Where are the others?" Ron asked.

"They're still asleep," Harry replied.  
  
Ron nodded.  
  
"I think that is because, well, my head bashed up against a rock or something and I woke up!" Ron exclaimed.  
  
"Yeah," Harry said. "While I was falling, I felt like someone dashed me against the side of a cliff and then I woke up too!"  
  
Ron and he exchanged glances.  
  
"Do you think they are still falling?" Harry asked quickly.  
  
He felt a pang of horror in his gut that matched the expression on Ron's face as Ron nodded. They rushed over to the others. Ron pulled out the book that was under Hermione. He looked at the page.  
  
"Ah Harry?" Ron said.  
  
Harry snapped to attention as he had let his mind wander. He looked up to Ron. Ron "shoved" the book in his face. Harry skimmed over the page.  
  
"Well, at least we are in one piece!" Harry exclaimed.  
  
Ron gave him a look.  
  
"'At least we are in one piece'?" Ron exclaimed. "Do you not care that they may be stuck there forever? They will be stuck there because of us!"  
  
"I thought you knew me!" Harry cried. "I thought you were my friend! You've changed, Ron, and I don't think I like it!"  
  
Ron shook his head.  
  
"So just because of that, you are going to let them be trapped?" he exclaimed. Harry just stood there. Ron came closer to him.  
  
"If that is what you are going to do then go away!" Ron exclaimed.  
  
Harry backed out of the room. Truth was he didn't know what to do.

* * *

Ron knelt next to Hermione and Draco. He reread the page for the fifth time, hoping to find a way to bring them back. Ron could remember all the happy memories he had had with the both of them. He thought if only there was some way to bring them back. Ron stood up and, numb in sorrow, dropped the book accidentally. It landed on Hermione's head before sliding onto the floor. He cursed and bent over to pick it up. Ron heard a groan and jumped, dropping the book back onto the floor.  
  
"Merlin, Crookshanks! Don't make so much racket!" a voice exclaimed.  
  
Ron smiled.  
  
"Hermione?" he asked.  
  
She sat up, running a hand through her mousy hair.  
  
"Its me," she said. "Mind telling me where I am?"  
  
Ron grinned.  
  
"Well," another voice started. "You are quite the pervert! I mean, walking into the boys' bathroom and all while I was taking a shower!"  
  
Hermione looked behind her and hit the body next to her.  
  
"I am not that sick, you prat!" She exclaimed.  
  
"I have been called worst!" Draco said getting up. "But do you mind telling me why you drugged me so I would make out with you on the infirmary floor!"  
  
Hermione shook her head.  
  
"I don't need to hear about your sick, perverted dreams, you prat!" she exclaimed.  
  
"Why don't you get the dictionary and learn a new word! Wait, you've already read the dictionary, haven't you?" Draco exclaimed.  
  
"Oh, just sod off already!" she exclaimed.  
  
Ron laughed and they glared at him.  
  
"Well, I am glad to see you both are okay!" he said.  
  
Hermione turned to him.  
  
"Where's Harry?" she asked.  
  
"Oh," Ron said, "he went off for a walk!"

* * *

Harry picked up his father's journal. He fingered the leather cover and wondered. He wondered if something about it had spawned the evil that haunted him from inside himself.  
  
Harry looked through the journal.  
  
_Dear Journal,  
  
My brother felt the calling and he died. I feel it but I am resisting. I think the switch inside of me was turned on. Padfoot and Moony, both, couldn't figure out what is wrong! What if it stays there? What if it scares her away? Or what if it has me kill her!_  
  
Harry stared. His father wouldn't have written this! Someone else did! His father wasn't evil. He flipped to the last page.  
  
_Hey [James] Potter! Do you like my joke? Did it burn a hole in your heart? Wouldn't it be funny if it became my weapon against you... maybe your boy!  
_  
It wasn't signed. Harry stared at this. Why had his father kept this? He picked it up and brought it to the fireplace in the common room. His feet got heavier and heavier the closer he got.  
  
"What is wrong?" Ginny asked Harry.  
  
"Nothing," he said.  
  
She looked from him to the fireplace.  
  
"What an odd display you are putting on, but let me help you!" she said, coming over and taking the book from him.  
  
He watched her walk over and through it in the fire. His eyes went wide but his feet wouldn't rush forward to save it. A huge screech filled the room. A spirit that resembled a dementor without any covering swooped out of the fireplace and then out of the window.

* * *

Draco rushed down the hall, leading Ron by the arm. Ron was basically dragged behind him.  
  
"Come on, Ron!" Draco said.  
  
Ron quickened his pace, trying to keep up. Draco didn't let go of his arm. Ron nearly had to jog.  
  
"Where are we going?" he asked.  
  
Draco gave him a coy smile.  
  
"You'll see!" he exclaimed.  
  
Draco dragged him up to the seventh floor. He grinned as he stood in front of a tapestry. "Ron, come on!" he said as he turned to face the blank wall opposite of it.  
  
He walked over and stood near the wall. Ron walked over to him and leaned against the wall next to him.  
  
"I take it we are going to stay here all night," Ron said.  
  
Ron didn't feel all that great after everything that had happened. He was rather somber. Draco looked over to him.  
  
"You make it sound bad!" Draco exclaimed.  
  
"I'm a little out of shape and mood," Ron said.  
  
Draco grinned.  
  
"Well, let me help you out!" Draco exclaimed.  
  
Before he knew it, Draco's lips were on his. Draco's hands were in his hair. Within it, Ron felt comfort. He wrapped his hands around Draco, pulling him closer. With his tongue, Draco pushed Ron's lips apart and entered. Ron tried his best to make Draco feel as wonderful as he felt. Draco pulled away for a second, while his hands slid down onto Ron's shoulders.  
  
"Did you just touch my ass, Weasley?" Draco exclaimed.  
  
Ron smiled enticingly and kissed Draco. Draco pinned him to the wall. His back hit something round and hard. Draco reached around him and touched it. Ron guessed it was a doorknob when Draco turned it. Ron fell backwards, dragging Draco down with him.

* * *

Draco smiled at the redhead beneath him.  
  
"Do you remember what happens next?" Draco asked, smiling at Ron.  
  
Suddenly, something caught his attention. It was the room! It had everything that he wanted right then! Everywhere, there were fur rugs. The bed was draped in fur. There were even two changing rooms! He got up, not realizing Ron had started to undo his shirt.  
  
He walked around the room.  
  
"Where is this?" he asked.  
  
Ron got up and looked around too.  
  
"Don't you remember?" He said. "It's the Room of Requirements!"  
  
Draco smiled as his head swarmed with ideas.  
  
"Ron," he said, "why don't you slip into something more... alluring!"  
  
"Okay," Ron said slowly.  
  
He slowly approached one of the changing rooms. Full of laughter and feeling giddy, Draco ran more than walked into the other changing room.  
  
Draco examined himself in the mirror he had discovered. It was near the bed. There was only one thing to change into in the changing room. He now wore it. His half-naked body was covered in only one place as he fashioned the Speedo to himself.  
  
"I am not coming out!" a voice said.  
  
"Ron!" Draco called, smiling to himself. "Just come out! I won't judge you!"  
  
"Sure!" he heard.  
  
"Just come out!" Draco half-commanded.  
  
Slowly the door opened. Out came the amusement of the day! Ron was in a bunny suit from the floppy ears to the pawed feet. Draco tried to muffle his laughter as Ron blushed. "Come here!" Draco exclaimed.  
  
Ron shuffled his feet over, his head down. Lovingly, Draco took off the hood and began and stripping it off of Ron. Ron got in his way and began kissing him passionately. Persistent, he managed to push Draco onto the bed, a new experience for Draco as he was used to being the one in control. Ron got Draco all of the way on the bed and straddled Draco's stomach, still kissing Draco in almost every place imaginative.  
  
"I missed you," Ron said, kissing him again.  
  
Draco let out a moan. Then, he rolled over, swapping positions with Ron.

* * *

Hermione looked over to Harry who was staring at the fire in a lounge chair in the common room and back to her book.  
  
_Does That Special Someone Really Love You?  
  
Does he love you?  
  
_She looked up.  
  
"Harry, do love me?" she asked.  
  
He nodded.  
  
"Sure," he said blankly.  
  
_a. Yes  
  
b. no  
  
c. You just asked him and he said "sure."_

Hermione blushed as she circled "c."  
  
_Does he stare after other people?  
  
a. yes, he adores women  
  
b. no, You are his one and only  
  
c. yes, he likes to stare at guys_  
  
Again, she found herself blushing as she picked "c." again.  
  
_You walk into a fast food restaurant with him, what does he order you?  
  
a. cheeseburger with fries  
  
b. he lets you chose  
  
c. He hasn't taken you out to eat._  
  
Hermione became frustrated as she yet again circled "c."  
  
_What does he do in his spare time?  
  
a. he plays sports  
  
b. What spare time does he have when he is flowering you with gifts?  
  
c. He has enough trouble getting off of the couch_  
  
Hermione couldn't see an answer that was true but circled "a." It didn't surprise her that some answers like the couch and cheeseburgers didn't work in the wizarding world as she had bought it from a bookstore near where she lived. Also, it was from America.  
  
_What did he get you for your birthday?  
  
a. a romantic dinner  
  
b. he called you up as he was watching a game with his friends  
  
c. Since when has he remembered your birthday?_  
  
She circled "c." Hermione added up the points as it was on a point scale. She circled the box that had her point range, the third lowest possible points, seven. She swallowed hard.  
  
It might just be time for a reality check! Your man belongs out on a doorstep! Don't play the pity-party if he can't even treat you like a lady! It might be time to toughen up! The right guy might be just around the corner!  
  
Hermione looked up at Harry. He had been watching her expression and gave her a worried glance. Hermione looked back down and breathed in deeply. They could have been wrong! It was just a stupid quiz anyway!  
  
Harry stood up and walked over. He looked down at her. His eyes were sincere.  
  
"Hermione, what are you reading?" he asked.  
  
She quickly closed it, leaving the back face up, flustered.  
  
"Just some junk! Nothing important!" she said quickly, not meeting his eyes.  
  
She looked past him.  
  
"Oh look! Ginny's here! I haven't talked to her in a long time!" she exclaimed.  
  
Harry shook his head.  
  
"You just talked to her yesterday morning!" he exclaimed.  
  
"That was three mornings ago for you!" she corrected and walked past him to Ron's only sister.

* * *

Ron cuddled Draco, a fallen angel, his angel. Draco looked so peaceful when he slept. They had spent most of the night in the Room of Requirements. He wouldn't have known that if he hadn't of wanted to see the time. The bed was soft and, he guessed, stuffed with feathers. The pillows were puffy and the bed, although it looked as though the fur blanket-like quilt was thin, was constantly warm.  
  
Ron stroked Draco's hair. It was soft. Ron guessed Draco had bought salon expensive shampoos as his father was rich. He nestled his face into Draco's hair.  
  
Draco laughed and rolled over.  
  
"I thought you were asleep," Ron said.  
  
"I was," he replied kissing Ron on the nose.  
  
Ron rolled onto his back, folding his hands behind his head.  
  
"Wouldn't it be nice to wake up like this everyday?" Ron said.  
  
Draco pulled the covers over his bare chest. He blinked and a small smile played upon his face.  
  
"No, I think I would get bored!" Draco exclaimed.  
  
"Draco!" Ron cried, turning to look at Draco.  
  
Draco laughed. He caressed Ron's cheek.  
  
"I was only joking," he said.  
  
Ron rolled his eyes and turned his back to Draco. He felt Draco's hands traveling up his naked back and smiled despite himself. He looked over his shoulders, putting his hand on one to lock hands with Draco.  
  
"I love you," he said.  
  
Draco smiled.  
  
"I know," he said. "It's written here."  
  
He kissed Ron's forehead.  
  
"And here."  
  
He kissed Ron's mouth.  
  
"Here."  
  
He kissed Ron's neck.  
  
"And here..."

* * *

Harry turned to Hermione. She talked with Ginny about what seemed like nothing to him. He waved away Dennis Creevy who claimed he was going to be the best still-picture photographer. He liked to get pictures of Harry with different expressions and poses and gave them odd names.  
  
Harry tried to pry Hermione away. She gave him a fleeting look and tried to wave him off. Angered, Harry wrestled the book away from her. It wasn't that hard as she wasn't prepared for it. She looked at him with a pale, shocked expression that said, "please don't."  
  
He went over and sat down on the steps to the boys' dormitory, opening to a page. Harry realized he needed to flip to the page before. It was a quiz on how much the special someone likes the person taking it. He guessed it was him she had done this about, as he was the only one or so he thought.  
  
Harry blushed and his face, neck, and even ears went red. The first question she had asked him. He looked it over and read the final answer over twice. Harry knitted his eyebrows.  
  
He looked up. Hermione was watching him with solicitude over Ginny's shoulder. She nodded as Ginny said something and bit her bottom lip as her and Harry's eyes met. Harry motioned for her to come over. Hermione excused herself and walked over to him. She took a seat next to her and Harry put his arm around her and pulled her close.  
  
"Hey," he said. "Write your parents a note asking for permission to go to a friend's house over winter break!"  
  
Hermione looked at him, confused.  
  
"We're going to your house?" she asked.  
  
He shook his head.  
  
"No, Malfoy's!"


	7. Chapter Six

**

* * *

Chapter 6**  
  
Draco stomped his foot impatiently. Harry didn't need to come anymore, but it was a little too late for that! Ron placed his stuff in the carriage.  
  
"Yeah," he said. "Harry said he's coming!"  
  
Draco shook his head.  
  
"I would much rather leave that git here!" he exclaimed.  
  
Ron came over and put his hand on Draco's shoulder.  
  
"Well, here they come!" he said.  
  
Draco turned around slowly, voicing the word, "they?" He saw Harry, and Hermione, headed towards him. Draco shook his head.  
  
"No, Potter, send her back! I told you no!" he exclaimed.  
  
Harry placed down his stuff, holding tightly to Hermione's wrist.  
  
"If she's not going, than neither am I!" Harry stated.  
  
Draco turned to usher Ron into the carriage.  
  
"Fine," he said.  
  
"Just let them come!" Ron exclaimed.  
  
Draco shook his head.  
  
"Nope," he said.  
  
Draco dragged Ron in and climbed into the carriage after him. He looked back to Harry.  
  
"Get your ass in here!" he exclaimed making a matching gesture.  
  
To Draco's disappointment, Harry and Hermione climbed in.

* * *

Harry looked up at Hermione. He sat cross-legged on the floor. Hermione looked through books assorted randomly in Lucius Malfoy's study.  
  
"You should really come take a look at some of these!" she exclaimed.  
  
He smiled.  
  
Harry came over. He brushed all of her hair over to one shoulder. Harry put his head on the opposite one. He put his hands on her waist.  
  
"I would mush rather look at you!" he proclaimed.

* * *

Ron sat down. He looked about him. The room was adorned with the most expensive materials of green, silver, and black. Two French doors opened onto a balcony. Black curtains embroidered with the Malfoy crest hung on either side. The bed was a silvery pale green polyester-satin material. It had three pillows. Two were rather large and matched the quilt with the same pale green color minus the silver. A much smaller one sat in-between them. It was silver with the crest on the middle of it. Draco stood in his closet.  
  
"Merlin, Draco! You are bloody rich!" Ron exclaimed.  
  
Draco didn't turn around but Ron felt him smiled. He came over and sat down next to Ron. Draco put his hand around Ron's shoulder.  
  
"I never understood if what my father wanted me to be was who I truly am. I needed to search for it," he said.  
  
Draco rested his head on Ron's shoulder.  
  
"I found the answer, I found myself, in you." 


End file.
